Abbreviated syntax for path expressions

XQuery provides an abbreviated syntax for expressing axes in path expressions.

Table 1 describes the abbreviations that are allowed in path expressions.

Table 1. Abbreviated syntax for path expressions
Abbreviated syntax	Description
no axis specified	Shorthand abbreviation for `child::`, except when the axis step specifies `attribute()` for the node test. When the axis step specifies an attribute test, an omitted axis is shorthand for `attribute::`.
@	Shorthand abbreviation for `attribute::` .
//	Shorthand abbreviation for `/descendant-or-self::node()/`, except when this abbreviation appears at the beginning of the path expression. When this abbreviation appears at the beginning of the path expression, the axis step selects an initial node sequence that contains the root of the tree in which the context node is found, plus all nodes that are descended from this root. This expression raises an error if the root node is not a document node.
..	Shorthand abbreviation for `parent::node()`.

Examples of abbreviated and unabbreviated syntax

Table 2 provides examples of abbreviated and unabbreviated syntax.

Table 2. Unabbreviated and abbreviated syntax compared
Unabbreviated syntax	Abbreviated syntax	Result
`child::para`	`para`	Selects the `para` elements that are children of the context node.
`child::*`	`*`	Selects all elements that are children of the context node.
`child::text()`	`text()`	Selects all text nodes that are children of the context node.
`child::node()`	`node()`	Selects all of the children of the context node. This expression returns no attribute nodes, because attributes are not children of a node.
`attribute::name`	`@name`	Selects the `name` attribute of the context node
`attribute::*`	`@*`	Selects all of the attributes of the context node.
`child::para[attribute::type="warning"]`	`para[@type="warning"]`	Selects all `para` children of the context node that have a type attribute with the value `warning`.
`child::chapter[child::title="Introduction"]`	`chapter[title="Introduction"]`	Selects the `chapter` children of the context node that have one or more `title` children whose typed value is equal to the string `Introduction`.
`child::chapter[child::title]`	`chapter[title]`	Selects the `chapter` children of the context node that have one or more `title` children.